ipod/mobile phone recommendations

[Norm]

Hello,

Basically I lost my ipod after christmas and my nice shiny nokia phone drowned in a glass of wine in January.

I travel by rail quite a bit (approx 320miles per week) so i'm missing my ipod alot.

I am currently using a battered nokia 3120 I think, which is absolutely fine as I only ever use a phone as a phone.

My question is, seen as I am in the market for a new ipod should I consider an iphone instead?

You may have gathered I am not very technologically advanced and generally like my gadgets simple and easy to use.
Is an iphone a sensible choice for someone who would consider a new phone and needs a new ipod?
Or is an iphone really just a gadget with lots of useless extras that is very well marketed?

I am looking for any advice and opinions.
Also any suggestions on the best websites/shops to buy an ipod would be appreciated.

Thanks very much.

[Pauro 76]

Depends on how much storage you need for your iPhone. The biggest one is 16GB which may or may not be enough for storage, music wise. I love the applications you can get on it, it looks fantastic and the games play well on it too. The camera on the other hand is very disappointing, there's no flash and only 2mega pixel. And hte battery life is horrendous too. But have a look anyway...

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Here's some specs to help you make up your mind.

[Dodge]

Got an iPod touch at Christmas. Best gadget I've ever had. I absolutely love it.

It has pretty much the same functions as iPhone (bar the phone bits obviously) and the downloadable apps are great.

[OneRedArmy]

If you like the ipod interface, are happy enough with 16GB and don't want to carry two gadgets then its a no brainer.

I'd really love a bigger storage capacity but I can just about get by with 16gb with careful playlist management.

[Norm]

Thanks for the tips lads, actually thinkin of an itouch now!

Have a history with phones so not much point in tempting fate, gonna stick with the trusty nokia and if that falls down the toilet at 3.30am so be it!!

Had a look at a friends itouch and it really is the biz. I generally wouldn't have much more then 2-3000 songs anyway.

Thanks again.

[SligoBrewer]

Got an iPod touch at Christmas. Best gadget I've ever had. I absolutely love it.

It has pretty much the same functions as iPhone (bar the phone bits obviously) and the downloadable apps are great.

Must be pointed out that there is no GPS on the iPod Touch.

OP, did you consider a tocco with a massive SD card or a Nokia n95?

[anto1208]

I got the new LG touch phone ( the new version of the viewity i think its called ) its really good you can change the memory cards at the momment ive a 2 gb card which is more than enough for storing music on. But you can get larger cards.

It was only 50 euro on a upgrade so that might be worth checking out

[Dodge]

Coming back to this. A friend of mine without wifi at home recently got the iphone and it is in't half as handy

[SkStu]

im thinking of buying herself an iPhone for her birthday. Do all the apps cost extra? Is it a one time price or a monthly subscription? Cheers...

[Pauro 76]

Got a Sony Ericcson C902 on contract, 5MP camera but overall a bit disappointing. Screen's a bit too small for browsing. You will have to pay for some iPhone apps but most you'll get for free....

[Dodge]

im thinking of buying herself an iPhone for her birthday. Do all the apps cost extra? Is it a one time price or a monthly subscription? Cheers...

If you have itunes installed I think you can have a look at the apps store before you buy (as previously stated I have the ipod touch so I'm not sure if it picks that up…)

Most of the ones I have are free (Google Earth, facebook, shoutcast (internet radio feeds), eirtext (using your freet web texts from o2, vodafone or meteor), twitterfon, RSS feeds etc etc) but prices range from 79c to €40 (for some technical stuff that only sailors would need. Saw it once and couldn't believe it…)

Most games are around the 79c to €4 mark but some have free "lite" versions so you can check to see if you want them.

You register your creditcard with itunes and pay for what you download. You only pay once so if you download something, then delete it, you can download it again for free.

[paul_oshea]

Must be pointed out that there is no GPS on the iPod Touch.

OP, did you consider a tocco with a massive SD card or a Nokia n95?

dont go near the N95, a mate had one he gave it back after 2 weeks cos the screen was so slow opening up messages. I got one and have had it 4 months and it is a mare, sometimes i even have to turn the phone off and on because it freezes when looking at messages or trying to look up contacts. Terrible terrible phone, and ive read even worse stories on the internet.

[gustavo]

dont go near the N95, a mate had one he gave it back after 2 weeks cos the screen was so slow opening up messages. I got one and have had it 4 months and it is a mare, sometimes i even have to turn the phone off and on because it freezes when looking at messages or trying to look up contacts. Terrible terrible phone, and ive read even worse stories on the internet.

I've an n95 now for a few months and am having no such problems at all , Delighted with it in fact , Maybe yours needs a firmware upgrade ?

[SligoBrewer]

dont go near the N95, a mate had one he gave it back after 2 weeks cos the screen was so slow opening up messages. I got one and have had it 4 months and it is a mare, sometimes i even have to turn the phone off and on because it freezes when looking at messages or trying to look up contacts. Terrible terrible phone, and ive read even worse stories on the internet.

I'll trade you my tocco for it. No drag whatsoever.;)

[red bellied]

http://tversity.com/support/quickstart-iphone

This is handy for streaming video or music from your pc to iphone or ipod touch. Can also be used on the go. Takes a long time to stream video, has to transcode it first.

[Real ale Madrid]

Was thinking of getting the iPhone myself.

I was wondering if you have - as an example - eircom broadband at home - does it cost anything extra to go on-line on the phone? Does O2 charge you for downloading info etc?

thanks for any info.

[OneRedArmy]

Once you enter your home broadband details it automatically uses that. Nothing else required.

But tbh, unless you are streaming Internet radio a lot, I find for normal web-browsing 3G is indiscernable in it's speed from my 7.6mb broadband. I also haven't even come close to my 1gb monthy O2 data limit.

[Real ale Madrid]

Once you enter your home broadband details it automatically uses that. Nothing else required.

But tbh, unless you are streaming Internet radio a lot, I find for normal web-browsing 3G is indiscernable in it's speed from my 7.6mb broadband. I also haven't even come close to my 1gb monthy O2 data limit.

Thats great info - thanks a lot.

Just getting this as a gift for the other half - with the iPOD and internet as well as the good phone - it seems like a good idea. Pity the camera isn't a bit better. Still tho - think i'll bite the bullet now.

[OneRedArmy]

Thats great info - thanks a lot.

Just getting this as a gift for the other half - with the iPOD and internet as well as the good phone - it seems like a good idea. Pity the camera isn't a bit better. Still tho - think i'll bite the bullet now.

There's rumours of a new version coming out. Nothing concrete and unlikely to be here in Ireland for a few months at least. A better camera was one of the few real improvements mentioned.

Personally, I'd go ahead and buy now.

[Pauro 76]

A few interesting rumours about the new iPhone.

http://www.slashphone.com/rumor-new-iphone-2009-casing-design-134636

[celticV3]

Get yourself a black 8gb Nokia N95;)

[Jofspring]

I have the black nokia n95 and find it very slow like mentioned in another post. I'm sure it just needs a software update but the memory is built in and will be wiped if i bring it in to get upgraded which is very annoying. I tried hooking it up to my computer to back up whats on it but had nothing but hassle trying to get it to work. The silver version that was original out had and external memory card that could be taken out if any little problems had to be fixed which was so much handier. Don't know why they bothered making the memory built in.

Anyway, i was thinking of getting the Samsung Tocco Ultra when i'm entitled to my upgrade in August. Has anyone here used it yet, is it any better than the first Samsung Tocco as there is a big difference in price. If its a case of €100+ extra just for the slide down buttons i think i would go with the original Tocco as alot of people i know have it and say its a great phone and the touch screen txting is very easy to get used to. Anyone here with experience of the two phones and which might be better?? or even experience of either or phone?

[SligoBrewer]

I have the Tocco. It's not great tbh. Like it's a phone, but a bit Gimmicky. The camera is poor, there is virtually no games for it etc etc.

If you were with O2, i'd say use your upgrade for the new iPhone.

[Lev Yashin]

I have the Tocco and i find it fine...texting took time to get used to but im flying now. As for the camera well its grand for a few drunken pics but if your gonna want to take proper pics then just buy a seperate camera!!

Cant complain about anything else really sound is good...i have downloaded a few games for it which passes the time in work!!:eek:

The widget thing was annoying at first but you can customise it to have what you in it which maks accessing things quicker and handier...

[Réiteoir]

I'll be selling off my old 3G iPhone and getting one of the new ones with the cash from it soon after release date.

[A face]

Mobile Phone Recommendations, does anyone have any?

Not an iPhone though.

[dahamsta]

We'll need more info than that face! What features do you need, what network are you on, etc, etc...

[superfrank]

I've always found Nokia phones to be the best. Very easy to use and very strong as well.

[kingdom hoop]

I bought my first ever new phone last week (others were hand-me-downs and whatnot). It's a Nokia 5130 (http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-5130-xpressmusic) and so far I'm very happy with it. It cost €80 as a Ready To Go or whatever the term now is (non-bill pay basically).

Best features for me are probably that it plays music and comes with a micro SD slot, with a free 1gb card supplied on purchase. It has a speaker to play the music too which is moderately handy (though the radio only functions when there are headphones in, which is slightly inconvenient). Camera is poor-ish quality (2megapixels) but I don't think I'll be using it much. Battery seems reasonable so far. Screen is nice and bright. Buttons are fine. Sound quality on calls is fine. Style is good for the price-band.

Overall, it's a solid, low-to-medium-priced phone which I recommend if you don't really want anything too fancy or specific. :ball:

[tetsujin1979]

It has a speaker to play the music too which is moderately handy (though the radio only functions when there are headphones in, which is slightly inconvenient).
There's a corner of hell reserved for those who play music through their phones on the bus.

[kingdom hoop]

There's a corner of hell reserved for those who play music through their phones on the bus.

Right on - I was actually going to make a joke about that but didn't manage to fit it in. Well at least now I'll be able to compete with them. :)

[pete]

We'll need more info than that face! What features do you need, what network are you on, etc, etc...

More importantly, what colour do you want?;)

[brendy_éire]

If you're looking for a phone with good internet and the ability to runs a number of programs (eg, Real Player, Acrobat, etc), I'd recommend a Nokia N95. I've had mine a few months now and love it.

[A face]

If you're looking for a phone with good internet and the ability to runs a number of programs (eg, Real Player, Acrobat, etc), I'd recommend a Nokia N95. I've had mine a few months now and love it.

Its nice alright, and some nice apps for it too but the screen is very exposed i think, and its not very tough.

I'd be looking for something that has fairly good bluetooth. Alot of phone have it but when it comes to actually using it its fairly ropey. Good memory card to store music etc. so not restricted in size. If its got a camera them 5 million would be good.

After that i'm not fussy, just want to see what people like. I like Nokias because thats what i've mostly had but again i'm not pushed.

[brendy_éire]

Good memory card to store music etc. so not restricted in size.

Wouldn't worry to much about memory size, as long as it has a memory card slot. You'll pick up an 8GB card on eBay for under a tener.

[A face]

Just adding a few links to help people decide

www.mobileireland.net (http://www.mobileireland.net/)

www.mobile.ie (http://www.mobile.ie/)

www.phonedog.com (http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-research/compare-phones.aspx) - Select the features you want on the left hand side.

And

www.callcosts.ie (http://www.callcosts.ie/)